Tuesday, April 30 2019

08:00  The day starts early for me and Lois - a quick bath  and a quick breakfast. Lois's cousin Brian and his wife Ruth are visiting us today. Ruth said in her text yesterday that they would arrive some time between 10:30 am and 11 am - yikes!

I get started cleaning up the house and vacuuming everywhere. I set the table for 4 people, with our "good" cutlery, glasses, tablecloth etc. Lois goes around the corner to the Burgage Stores convenience store to buy a few things for lunch, also biscuits for the morning coffee.

10:30 Lois and I are already exhausted, so we settle down on the couch to relax. The house is ready, but where are Brian and Ruth?

11:50 They finally arrive - they chose a stupid route in my opinion, but I’m going to let that one slide.

They say they wanted to follow some ancient prehistoric road, the so-called "White Way" from Cirencester. First they got lost, later they met traffic jams due to road works. They left Gill’s house later than expected  this morning because Gill's cat ("Scorchio") had disappeared and they were worried about it - this week they are cat-sitting  Gill's cat in a small village just outside Bath, while Gill, Ruth's sister-in-law, is on holiday in the Netherlands . Good grief, what madness !!!!

Flashback to the 1990's: the ”Fast Show” with its parody of the kind of

weather forecasts for the day that you see on tv in your Spanish hotel room –

everywhere it’s going to be “Scorchio” ha ha

and now, the forecast for tomorrow

included for comparison purposes: 

a typical British weather forecast from the period

We talk and have a cup of coffee with Brian and Ruth in the living room, have a late lunch in the dining room, and then go back to the living room to have a cup of tea and talk a little more, and a little more and a little more ... Yikes!

Ruth loves to talk and she dominates the conversation, while Brian falls asleep on the sofa: in other words, the usual scenario, seen every time they visit us. It is very difficult to interrupt Ruth when she is in full flow, and finally we stop trying, I guess I have to say.

She never takes a break, it's non-stop. Brian has learned a long time ago that he can either just listen or crumple himself up on the sofa and doze. Occasionally he will interrupt Ruth, by speaking in a loud voice, with a lot of hand gestures, and refusing to quit  until he finishes, regardless of what Ruth does or says – my god!

But the worst thing is that Ruth tends to talk about people's problems, especially diseases, some of them quite serious, so for me and Lois, the whole experience becomes quite depressing, to put it mildly. Soon we have all lost the will to live, apart from Ruth, who looks very cheerful as always. My god!

Flashback to April 2017, and Ruth and Brian's recent visit to us

Other people's problems are like meat and drink to Ruth, so Lois and I are always careful not to give her any hint that we've got any ourselves - although she tries to probe us of course!

17:00 Ruth and Brian have to leave. For me and Lois, it is fortunate that Ruth feels they have to drive back to Bath to feed Gill's cat, Scorchio. My god (again) !!!!!

18:30 Lois and I feel completely washed up, we are like two damp cloths, I have to say. 

We have dinner, two of the low-fat ready meals we bought in CookShop the other day, and spend the rest of the evening watching some television, although we can't help repeatedly dozing off, only  to wake up a few minutes later with a start.

We see the latest episode in the series "New Lives in the Wild". The host of the programme is the charming Ben Fogle.

An interesting episode. A family of three damaged souls from Oregon USA - Rick (44), his partner Andi (46) and Cole, Andi's son from a previous relationship, have left their nice home and well-paid jobs in Oregon to start a new life in Panama, by establishing their own small coffee plantation out in the boonies down there.

The coffee industry is not the safest source of income, to put it mildly:  global coffee prices can plummet without warning, and there is a risk of their trees getting infected by various diseases, especially coffee rust.

Nevertheless, it seems that the family has achieved a degree of peace of mind in their new surroundings, I have to say.

The programme's host, the charming Ben Fogle, tries gently and politely to uncover the reasons for the family's decision to leave Oregon and start a new life in Panama. As the result of his gentle and sympathetic conversations with them, we get to realise some of the reasons, but Lois and I suspect there is a lot more under the surface that the family does not want to talk about.

Their life in Oregon was dominated by long working days and stress that resulted from Rick and Andi's compulsion to maintain their affluent lifestyle:  earning a lot and spending a lot.

Rick had developed serious back problems. Andi, Rick's partner, had had a traumatic childhood, after her parents and her only big brother were killed in a traffic accident, caused by a drunk driver when she was only 4 years old: she survived the accident.

She has tried her hand at a million jobs. And she had a child, Cole, with some previous partner - Cole, now 10 years old or so, is a brilliant computer geek who can dismantle a computer and re-assemble it without a problem, but he was bullied at school back in Oregon.

The programme ends, but Lois and I feel there are a lot of unanswered questions - Ben is a polite interviewer, and he seems to shy away from pressing them. The family seems to have no social life. Does Cole go to school over there? What about the language issue? And thousands of other questions in my head and Lois's head. 

Not that we want to be like Ruth and focus on their problems ha ha! It would just be nice to have a more rounded picture of their day to day lives.

22:00 We collapse into bed - zzzzzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

08:00 Dagen starter tidligt for mit og Lois’ vedkommende –en smut i bad og en hurtig morgenmad. Lois’ fætter Brian, og Ruth, Brians kone besøger os i dag. Ruth sagde i sin sms i går, at de ville ankomme mellem kl 10:30 og kl 11 – yikes!

Jeg går i gang med at rydde op i huset og støvsuger overalt. Jeg dækker bordet til 4 personer, med vores ”fine” bestik, glas, borddug osv. Lois går rundt om hjørnet til Burgage Stores-nærbutikken for at købe et par ting til frokost, også kiks til morgenkaffen.

10:30 Lois og jeg er allerede udmattede, så vi sætter os til rette i sofaen for at slappe lidt af. Huset er færdigt, men hvor er Brian og Ruth?

11:50 De ankommer endelig – de valgte en dum rute efter min mening, men det skal jeg springe over.

De siger, de havde lyst til at følge den gamle forhistoriske vej, den såkaldte ”hvide vej” fra Cirencester. Først farede de vild, senere mødte de trafikpropper på grund af vejarbejde. De tog sent af sted i morges, fordi Gills kat (”Scorchio”) var forsvundet, og de var bekymrede derover – denne uge kattesitter de Gills kat i en lille landsby lige udenfor byen Bath, mens Gill, Ruths svigersøster er på ferie i Holland.  Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Vi snakker og drikker en kop kaffe med dem i stuen, spiser en sent frokost i spisestuen, og bagefter går tilbage i stuen for at drikke en kop te og snakke lidt mere, og lidt mere, og lidt mere... Yikes!

Ruth elsker at snakke, og dominerer samtalen, mens Brian falder i søvn i sofaen: med andre ord, det sædvanlige scenarium, der ses hver gang, de besøger os. Det er meget svært at afbryde Ruth, når hun er i fuld gang med at tale, og endelig holder vi op med at prøve, det må jeg nok sige.

Hun tager aldrig en pause, det er non-stop. Brian har for længe siden lært, at han kan enten lytte bare eller stålsætte sig og afbryde Ruth, tale i en høj stemme, med en masse hånd-gestusser, og afvise at holde kæft, fortsættende indtil han er færdig, uanset hvad Ruth gør og siger – du godeste!

Det værste er, at Ruth har tendens til at snakke om folks problemer, især sygdomme, nogle af dem helt alvorlige, så for mit og Lois’ vedkommende er hele oplevelsen ganske deprimerende, for at sige mildt. Snart har vi alle mistet viljen til at leve, bortset fra Ruth, der ser meget munter ud, som altid. Du godeste!

Tilbageblik til april 2017, og Ruth og Brians seneste besøg hos os

:

17:00 Ruth og Brian skal til af sted. For mit og Lois’ vedkommende er det heldigt, at Ruth føler, de må køre tilbage til Bath for at fodre Gills kat, Scorchio. Du godeste (igen) !!!!!

18:30 Lois og jeg føler os helt slåede ud, vi er ligesom to karklude, det må jeg nok sige. Vi spiser aftensmad, 2 af de fedtfattige færdigretter, vi forleden købte i CookShop, og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, selvom vi ikke kan undgå gentagende gange at døse, og vågne  et par minutter senere med et start.   

Vi ser det seneste afsnit i serien ”New Lives in the Wild”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Ben Fogle.

En interessant afsnit. En familie af tre ødelagte sjæle fra Oregon USA – Rick (44), hans partner Andi (46) og Cole, Andis søn fra et tidligere forhold, har forladt deres pæne hjem og vellønnet jobs i Oregon for at starte et nyt liv i Panama ved at grundlægge deres egen kaffeforretning ude i bøhlandet.

Kaffebranchen er ikke den sikreste kilde på indkomst, for at sige mildt:  globale kaffepriser kan styrtdykke uden varsel, og der er risiko at træerne bliver smittet af forskellige sygdomme, især en svamp kaldet kaffebladsrust.

Ikke desto mindre ser det ud til, at familien har opnået fred i sindet i deres nye omgivenheder, det må jeg nok sige.

Programmets vært, den charmerende Ben Fogle, prøver blidt og høfligt at afdække grundene til familiens beslutning at forlade Oregon og starte et ny liv i Panama. Som resultatet af hans blide og sympatiske samtaler med dem, bliver vi klar over nogle af grundene, men Lois og jeg mistænker, at der er meget mere under overfladen, som familien ikke har lyst til at tale om.

Deres liv i Oregon var domineret af lange arbejdsdage og stress, der resulterede fra Rick og Andis tvang til at opretholde deres vellønnede livstil:  dét at tjene meget og bruge meget.  

Rick havde udviklet alvorlige rygproblemer. Andi, Ricks partner, havde haft en traumatisk barndom, efter hendes forældre og hendes eneste storbror blev dræbt i en trafikulykke, forårsaget af en beruset chauffør, da hun kun var 4 år gammel: hun overlevede ulykken.

Hun fik et barn, Cole, med en eller anden tidligere partner – Cole, der nu er 10 år gammel, eller deromkring, er en brilliant computer-nørd, der kan demontere et computer og samle den på ny uden besvær, men han blev mobbet i skole tilbage i Oregon.

Programmet slutter, men Lois og jeg føler, der er en masse ubesvarede spørsgmål – Ben er sikke en høflig interviewer, og han synes at kvie sig ved at presse dem.  Familien synes at have intet socialt liv. Går unge Cole i skole derovre? Og tusindvis af andre spørgsmål i mit og Lois’ hoved.

22:00 Vi kollapser i seng – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!